Santa Catalina Island (Christmas 2008)

Highlights from our trip to Catalina.

Containers and container ship, port of Long Beach:





Photos of Avalon and the north coast:









Me with prickly pear lipstick:

Gina with very big shades

Here is a glamorous photo of Gina in front of the Hotel del Coronado (photo taken last spring):

Laura Jane

Laura Jane looking up (Thanksgiving 2008):

Grand Canyon

After moving out of the Sunset Blvd. apartment (the night of June 19), we immediately went on a road trip to the Grand Canyon. Gina had never been. We spent the first night in Flagstaff and the second at the Desert View campsite within the Grand Canyon National Park. This campsite is apparently rarely full, perhaps because it lacks showers and other facilities. This particular weekend was extremely hot (reaching over 90 degrees on the rim of the Grand Canyon, which is no small feat for an elevation of nearly 7500 feet), so we didn't do much hiking. Here is Gina's very first view of the Grand Canyon (at Grandview Point):



And here are a couple of photos along the Grandview Trail:





Later in the day, as sunset was approaching, we returned to Desert View, where we had a fine view of, well, the desert (along with a lovely little mesa):



Here's another sunset photo. (This photo happens to be Gina's favorite.)



The following morning, we of course returned to the very same spot to see the sunrise:



We then headed out the east (the same way we had come in) and then northward towards Utah. We crossed the Colorado River at Marble Canyon, and then drove on to Zion, where we had lunch outdoors in the 100+ degree heat. After a mini hike, Gina jumped into the river clothes and all, and was subsequently in a much better mood:



Late in the afternoon, we went on to Las Vegas, where we spent a night before returning to Irvine. Las Vegas was uneventful, if not downright boring (and we pretty much both decided we never needed to go back).

Singapore food log

DAY 1:

Breakfast #1: Instant noodles from Seven Eleven

Breakfast #2: Coffee at Starbucks (which opened at 7:30 am, making it one of the very first places to open in the morning).

Breakfast #3: Coffee, toast, fruit at Sleepy Sam's Bed and Breakfast

Lunch: Fish rice noodles (魚肉米粉) at a fantastic two-floor food court on Beach Road. The soup was slightly sweet (I noticed they were using sweetened condensed milk:



Dinner: Due to jet lag (and maybe also partly due to the three breakfasts), I did not eat dinner.

Day 2:

Breakfast #1: Penang stewed rice noodles (檳城馳名鹵面). The noodles were a bit disappointing. Not much flavor. The meat was supposedly pork, but it didn't really have the right consistency. It was possibly horse meat. To accompany the noodles, I had Hong Kong style milk tea (which I love!!!):



Breakfast #2: Coffee, toast, and fruit at Sleepy Sam's.

Lunch: South Indian food at a small place not far from the Singapore River. Very flavorful!



Dinner: Hainan-style chicken with rice + spicy shrimp + tofu. Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph this meal.

Day 3:

Breakfast #1: Fried rice noodle with fried egg and curry paste + Hong Kong-style milk tea

Breakfast #2: Fruit and toast with coffee

[to be continued]

Singapore

Here I am in Singapore (for a conference). For the first three nights, I've been staying in a hostel called Sleepy Sam's Bed & Breakfast, located near the Sultan Mosque. In this photo, Sleepy Sam's appears in green on the left:



On the first full day, I remained in the neighborhood of the hostel, visiting the Malay Cultural Centre, followed by a few Hindu temples in Little India:



I thought of entering the MRT (subway) at one point to get away from the heat, but it turned out this was impossible since I was carrying a bag of durian slices:



The durian, incidentally, was disappointing (nothing like Thailand).

On the second day, I went for a jog in the morning (5:30 am) along the Marina Promenade. This was nothing really to write home about; portions of the promenade were blocked off for construction, and I ended up running part way in the middle of the road. After two breakfasts (Penang stewed noodle + the hostel breakfast of toast and fruit), I walked over to the Asian Civilizations Museum, where I encountered a Late Tang Luoyang epitaph on display (which was very cool since I'm into Late Tang epitaphs these days):



At lunch time, I strolled down the Singapore River, looking for food:



The restaurants on the bank of the river seemed overpriced, but I found a South Indian restaurant one street off the river.

That evening, I met two colleagues (Khee Heong and Von Glahn) for a dinner of Hainan-style chicken.

In subsequent days, I will be occupied with the conference, and probably won't post any additional information. I'll be moving out of Sleepy Sam's and into the university visitor's lodge later today.

Yosemite

Here are a few photos from our late March Yosemite trip. My dad and Helen stayed in a hotel in Wawona, while Gina and I stayed in a (very cold) cabin in Yosemite Valley itself. Here we are (with our matching Yunnan-style hats) at the Tunnel View coming in from Wawona:



On the first afternoon, the four of us strolled to Mirror Lake. I climbed a rock:



On the second day, we took the Mist Trail followed by the John Muir Trail until we had a nice view of Nevada Falls. The trail beyond the bridge (Dad and Helen didn't go beyond that point) had certain stretches of snow, so that at times we actually had to scramble off the trail to get up the hill. Here's Gina in front of Nevada Falls:



On the third day, Gina and I went up as far as we had time for on the Yosemite Falls Trail. We ended up with a lovely view of the Upper Falls (Gina was convinced I wouldn't make it into position in time for the timed shot...that's why she's not smiling!):

Getty housing complex

Here are some recent pictures. There was briefly a double rainbow visible from my office, though of course it was much less obvious once I got the camera and made it out onto the balcony:



Here is a view from our window at our housing complex. The pink flowers inspired me to take the picture:



And a view in the other direction (with Maomao looking out at us):

Christmas movie with three hats

Christmas Eve 2007

After a very late breakfast, Gina, Dad, and I went to the Cite de l'architecture et du patrimoine (at Trocadero), where we saw plaster recreations of church facades from all over France as well as a new exhibit containing models of contemporary architecture. On the way home, we stopped in the Saint Germain district, first to have Lebanese fastfood and then to buy the deserts for that evening (purchased at Gilbert Mulot). Dad went back separately, while Gina & I slowly strolled home. It's always fun to see the good food products at the Rue Daguerre:





A little over three hours later (during which time I was able to squeeze in some work), we had appetizers of pate of duck liver with mangos and champagne while opening presents.



Dad and Helen loved their hats:



Here I am with all of my presents:



Subsequently, we had dinner, which consisted most notably of duck:

Cat pillow

Gina's Third Birthday

On Gina's third birthday of the year (December 8, i.e. the 29th day of the 10th lunar month), we went to my mom's place. In the mid afternoon, we went to Las Brisas in Laguna Beach. This was a good time of day to go (no lines + easy to get table by the window):

Thanksgiving 2007

The evening before Thanksgiving, my mom came up on the train from Irvine and met us in Koreatown, where we went to our favorite food court. Among else, we had fermented tofu stew and pig backbone. On Thanksgiving day, we first went for a fairly lengthy walk along the cliffs and then along the beach of Pacific Pallisades. Later, the feast included a tasteless chicken that I sort of made; the rest was Chinese food (pumpkin fried with salty eggs, fried rice cake, and fried tofu with soybean sprouts) and Thai food (panang beef and beef salad), courtesy of Gina:



Here's also a picture of my mom with Gina on the balcony outside of my office (photo taken the following day):

Getty Research Institute

Brief overview of fall: I've been doing research as a postdoc at the Getty Research Institute. We live with the scholars in an apartment building on Sunset Blvd. I'll post photos of my office and the apartment complex later. I failed to take many pictures these last few months because of how busy I was. Here are some photos from a picnic/hike in Will Rogers State Park in mid October (photos courtesy of Lorenzo):





(are Gina's shades not fashionable?)

And here are some photos capturing a bit of drama in scholar housing (a fire on the roof) (photos courtesy of Michael):





Finally, a couple of photos from the Winter Party (photos courtesy of some photo company hired to take photos and project them onto the wall during the course of the evening):





(Doesn't Gina look wise in that picture?)

Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang

We ended up spending about 8 days in Beijing. I bought about 100 pounds of books, we also saw friends (including William who happened to be in town) and Little Sister (here pictured in her dorm room):



and I took one daytrip into the very distant suburbs (well beyond the city of Fangshan) mainly to see a large set of Tang-period stone classics. These stones are interesting to me because on them are inscribed the names of tens of thousands of donors. Today, the stones are stashed in heaps within caves half-way up a mountain near the Yunju temple.



During our last week in China, we were based in Shanghai, but took a two-day trip to Changzhou, Wuxi, and Yangzhou. I was primarily looking for research material, but we also took the occasion to see Gina's cousin and his fiancee:



Finally, we went on a quick trip to Xiaoshan (east of Hangzhou) to deliver several pounds of Gina's mother's dried turnip to Gina's brother (pictured here with Saosao):



and where we also ate (very!) stinky tofu and duck heads: